Jogger's death sparks distracted-driver law

Published 7:43 pm, Monday, May 19, 2014

The mother of a Norwalk jogger who was killed by a distracted driver says it will take more than a small fine to stop people from using their smartphones while driving.

More than two years after Marlene and Leo Dorsey's son, 44-year-old Kenneth Dorsey, was killed, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed a bill that sets a penalty of up to $1,000 for such incidents.

Malloy signed the Act Concerning the Penalty for Causing Harm to a Vulnerable User of a Public Way on Monday. The bill was inspired by the incident that cost Dorsey his life. It fines drivers who harm pedestrians, bicyclists, people in wheelchairs or anyone else who has a right to be on the road.

In March 2012, Kenneth Dorsey was jogging when Brianna McEwan, a New Canaan High School student, struck and killed him while checking her smartphone. McEwan, who was a minor at the time, was placed on probation.

"We haven't forgotten this," Marlene Dorsey said Monday from her home in Milford. "My husband is on a mission. Hopefully, we can stop other families from going through this."

Leo Dorsey has been considering how to tackle distracted driving at the congressional level.

Marlene Dorsey said drivers must stop using their phones in their vehicles, and the Dorseys hope Congress will support a law to render mobile phones inoperable in moving cars.

She said she wants people to realize it only took a moment to change her family forever.

Marlene Dorsey said. "How important have we all become that we need to be on our phones all the time?"